It's happened...

[mysainters]

Not quite sure when it happened, but it has.

The result now seems dependant on if Steven, Mcevoy, Armo, Stanley and Geary play well.

It used to be the top tier, but they have been playing well.

The positive is that this younger group have formed into very important pieces in the St Kilda puzzle, the negative is, that we really need consistency from all of them now at this point. A few get an absolute tick from me as far as bringing their absolute best every week, others falling short.

 

[Half Back Pocket]

Not quite sure when it happened, but it has.

The result now seems dependant on if Steven, Mcevoy, Armo, Stanley and Geary play well.

It used to be the top tier, but they have been playing well.

The positive is that this younger group have formed into very important pieces in the St Kilda puzzle, the negative is, that we really need consistency from all of them now at this point. A few get an absolute tick from me as far as bringing their absolute best every week, others falling short.

my concern is that this younger group are not as talented as our class of 2000/2001/2002/2003.

we had many more high draft picks back then, this crop are all mid-range draft picks with the exception of Ben and Armo. i think we've been lucky with Wright, Ross, Newnes & Spence. Time will tell on the other 2011 & 2012 draftees. Our crop of 2010 draftees is virtually non-existent. 2009 was a disaster.

3 picks in the top 24 this year would be my dream...to add some real cream on top.

 

[The Punter]

Steven was underage, and would have been much higher in the draft a year later. He's also the most consistent performer at the club.

 

[Rors]

We all know the Ross Lyon era was, in part, successful for our club without winning the premiership, but where it left our playing list is the problem.

The early 2000s saw us with awesome drafts picks & over the few years to 2004, the mix of experienced old heads & kids with 50-100 games under their belt held us in good stead for the next 10 years.

During the Ross' reign, we failed to continue to bring through young blood & instead picked recycled list-clogger after list clogger that would in no way play a part in our premiership endevours...

The names:
2007 - Fraser Gehrig (sorry but Frase should have retired end of 2007 season)
2008 - Colm Begley
2009 - Adam Pattinson; Jesse W Smith;
2010 - Ryan Gamble; Dean Polo

Here are the names of 6 players that took the spot of a kid, now i'm not suggesting that the kids we could have picked instead of these blokes would even make it at AFL level, but surely it would have served us better in the long run

 

[Defacto]

We all know the Ross Lyon era was, in part, successful for our club without winning the premiership, but where it left our playing list is the problem.

The early 2000s saw us with awesome drafts picks & over the few years to 2004, the mix of experienced old heads & kids with 50-100 games under their belt held us in good stead for the next 10 years.

During the Ross' reign, we failed to continue to bring through young blood & instead picked recycled list-clogger after list clogger that would in no way play a part in our premiership endevours...

The names:
2007 - Fraser Gehrig (sorry but Frase should have retired end of 2007 season)
2008 - Colm Begley
2009 - Adam Pattinson; Jesse W Smith;
2010 - Ryan Gamble; Dean Polo

Here are the names of 6 players that took the spot of a kid, now i'm not suggesting that the kids we could have picked instead of these blokes would even make it at AFL level, but surely it would have served us better in the long run

how the hell did our medical team think they could get jesse smith right

 

[Manimal_Dunstan]

how the hell did our medical team think they could get jesse smith right

A shame though, He had lot's of talent. Just so unlucky.

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

how the hell did our medical team think they could get jesse smith right

You do remember how amazing our run with injuries was that year right? We barely had a scratch, we resurrected Micky Gardiner and David Misson was a freaking magician.

FWIW I think it was worth the gamble, tis just in retrospect you look back at all the wasted picks we used on recycled players and it doesn't look great.

 

[Stan_Darsh72]

Lets not dwell on the past and lets look forward to the next generation of St Kilda players. We don't know we could get a bona fide star this draft and lets hope that our players can become good. Lets feel that hope that we felt in 2003 and 2004 that we can do it, we will become good and that maybe we can win the flag.

We have gambled and the house won now, we need to move on.

 

[Defacto]

You do remember how amazing our run with injuries was that year right? We barely had a scratch, we resurrected Micky Gardiner and David Misson was a freaking magician.

FWIW I think it was worth the gamble, tis just in retrospect you look back at all the wasted picks we used on recycled players and it doesn't look great.

that is very much true, but i do think misson and co got way too confident after fixing our past soft tissue issues and getting gardi up, and thought they could pull off a miracle with jesse smith

 

[Half Back Pocket]

Lets not dwell on the past and lets look forward to the next generation of St Kilda players. We don't know we could get a bona fide star this draft and lets hope that our players can become good. Lets feel that hope that we felt in 2003 and 2004 that we can do it, we will become good and that maybe we can win the flag.

We have gambled and the house won now, we need to move on.

We gambled and the house won....so true

 

[tbarker]

You do remember how amazing our run with injuries was that year right? We barely had a scratch, we resurrected Micky Gardiner and David Misson was a freaking magician.

FWIW I think it was worth the gamble, tis just in retrospect you look back at all the wasted picks we used on recycled players and it doesn't look great.

I knew the Smith family and he was so close to being right that he felt the surrounds of St Kilda would get him right. Kangas had no facilities - literally. He was being treated outside the club by the physios. He came to the Saints and got very close. Without sounding biased - the kid was an absolute gun. Roberton on roids and tough. Worth the gamble in the pre-season draft. That is what it is there for IMO

 

[ike2112]

Not quite sure when it happened, but it has.

The result now seems dependant on if Steven, Mcevoy, Armo, Stanley and Geary play well.

I think that's the way the game overall is going though. Everyone gets at least one, sometimes two players tagged; it's not even just the key MF now teams are tagging to stop people running off HB.
So the next tier have to step up and make a difference.
Look at Essendon; their 4th mid is Brett Stanton. Ours is... Geary, if he's not at the back. If he is, who is next... Seb Ross?

What I think is key is when our young guys (and the erratic not-so-youngs; I'm thinking Dempster and Gilbert before his injury) avoid mistakes. They're all prone to making errors. Against Carlton, the young MFs (and Dempster) managed to go all game without making any pointless kicks or giving the ball up cheaply. McEvoy hasn't been doing so well at the bounce the last 3-4 games, so it's really key for us that we can win some loose ball and get it forward, because if we get dominated at the hitouts we are seriously up against it.

 

[mysainters]

Our middle tier needs to take the next step.

They did v Carlton and look what happened.

 

[Jackyboy]

Not quite sure when it happened, but it has.

The result now seems dependant on if Steven, Mcevoy, Armo, Stanley and Geary play well.

And i couldn't be happier to see it. I love watching out young kids. I made a comment in another thread about our young kids. I know where we are. Were not competing for a flag and we won't be like Melb / Dogs and i think with a couple more smart moves (KPB Mitch Brown, a really good young mid with our first pick) and we might be able to climb quicker than even i thought.

But i don't know why i'm not bothered by our defeats at the moment but i focus more on the form of our young kids, where they might take us, and leaders at the club saying we have more good young talent in the two's who can step up.

Let the next generation begin. With Roo, Hayes, Dempster and Fisher showing them the ropes over the next couple years they are learning from very good people.